Bundling Bridge Projects to Save Money and Build Faster

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has embarked on an ambitious $899 million Rapid Bridge Replacement Project with construction to begin the summer of 2015 on 558 bridges across the state.

The final list of 558 bridges was determined after screening more than 2,000 bridges.

The private sector team will manage the bridges’ design, construction and maintenance for 25 years after construction under a public-private partnership (P3) contract. Under the agreement, all 558 bridges must be replaced within 36 months. PennDOT will maintain ownership of the bridges.

The P3 contract will allow PennDOT to deliver high-quality bridges and replace the existing bridges more quickly than under the agency’s traditional procurement model. In addition, the project will minimize the impact on motorists during construction.

The current bridge on the left will be transformed quickly to look the right photo, a design comp. Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Continuing Resolutions have kept surface transportation funding at pre-FAST Act levels, and therefore states have not seen the increased federal investment into surface transportation they so badly need.

Senate Appropriators have allocated funding to the High Hazard Potential Dams Program. Write your Members of Congress and ask them to fund this program so that our nation’s “D” dams can receive the investment they need.